The embodiments described herein relate generally to gaming systems and methods for increasing user interest, and more particularly, to gaming systems and methods which incorporate personal digital media of a user into an output of a wager game played on a gaming machine.
Gaming machines have been a popular form of entertainment for many years. Gaming machines include mechanical gaming machines and electronic gaming machines. Mechanical gaming machines include a console typically with buttons, a display for displaying a game, and a mechanical lever that may be pulled by a player in order to play the game.
Recently, the popularity of gaming machines has been enhanced with the advancement of electronic and/or computer-based gaming machines. For example, electronic gaming machines may be connected to other electronic gaming machines, one or more servers, one or more host devices, and the like, through a network, such as through the Internet. Electronic gaming machines typically do not include very many moving parts, but rather generate a graphical representation of a game based on media data displayed on a screen of the electronic gaming machine. Because a player is essentially playing a computer game or a video game, manufacturers are able to offer more interactive elements, such as advanced bonus games and advanced video graphics, to players.
Many different types of wagering games are capable of being played on electronic gaming machines. Wagering games include, for example, standard slot-machine type games (i.e., spinning reels), poker machines, keno, bingo, blackjack, roulette, pachinko, and the like. A user will typically place a bet to begin a game, and win or lose a game based on the rules of the game.
However, an electronic gaming machine typically provides the same digital media to each user playing a game on the gaming machine. For example, the digital media typically includes images of reels, images of symbols such as on a spinning wheel, character images, background images, and the like, which are identically provided each time a game is played. While such games provide users with enjoyment from gaming, a need exists for gaming machines that may be used to enhance player enjoyment through other ways.